Interview: Vagabond Journey

I was interviewed for an article on Vagabond Journey. While there's nothing there I haven't mentioned before on the blog (other foreigners can be knuckleheads, learn some damn Korean, etc) it might be of interest to you to get a larger perspective (or whatever) on teaching in South Korea: ESL in the Fast Lane: Lessons in Teaching English in South Korea.

I will say that it's infinitely weird to be referred to by my last name in "print." I understand that it's convention, but still. Many of my close friends have called me "Koba" for so long that when other people use it in a professional context, it sounds strange. It's like someone using your college nickname in a newspaper article. The only thing more jarring would have been if she had called me "Kobes."

Connected

I finally have my own grown-up Internet, which means I can start pirating movies planning Skype dates, streaming media, and updating on a regular schedule! How about that?

Photos of the neighborhood and the apartment and so forth will go up. Eventually. The irony is now that I have the ability to post content from my own computer again, I'm just too tired to do so. So instead I'm going to stream some awful K-dramas and think about them too much, and pass it all on to you!

Still Kicking!

YOU'RE NOT DONE WITH ME YET.

First of all, I have a tremendous post to do about Kim's Kitchen, which is fast becoming my default destination on my work-free days. But I think I'm going to wait until post-birthday-dinner (as if I would go anywhere else! Mm-mm, dak galbi, I've missed you) so I can have an excuse to take really dorky photos of the place.

But more importantly, I have swallowed hard, had a talk with The Boy, and decided that another year in Korea is the next step for me. My antics aren't quite over yet! I'm stoked to be seeing friends again and to get a second chance at everything I missed the first time: Busan, Jeju, the Mud Festival, at least one cave, and maybe even a visit to Dokdo. (Because Dokdo is ours, dammit!)

Plus there's lots of international trips I want to take, too. I knocked Indonesia and China off my list in 2009; maybe I can cross off Thailand in 2011? Maybe Japan, too, if I can get over my irrational aversion to Japan. (Thanks, weeaboos.)

I have been putting out feelers about job openings in Uijeongbu (because I would love to go back to my old stomping grounds) and while I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched, I'm confident I can find something in the early months of 2011. Just gotta update the resume, is all...

East versus West

Never mind that I think the breaking down of cultures into hemispheres is, at best, dated, and operates on outmoded stereotypes of both "sides." Let's get some side-by-side shots going! Mostly for the benefit for friends in Korea who might actually give a crap about seeing where I came from and what I came home to. For anyone else this is just a bunch of self-indulgent narcissism. Nothing to see here, move along.

ROUND ONE: THE DIGS



Korea




America


Winner: America

ROUND TWO: THE COOKERY



Korea



America

Winner: America again. I made those muffins in that oven.

ROUND THREE: THE NEIGHBORHOOD



Korea



America

Winner: Tie. The scenery is nice but you can't get anywhere without a car (leaving me feeling rather isolated and frustrated when my stand-in car's battery died this morning). I could walk to nearly anything I might have wanted in the 'dong: the grocery store; countless restaurants, bars, and *bongs; the bus stop; work.

ROUND FOUR: WORK



Korea



America

Winner: Again, a tie. It's one of those things where you always want to be where you're not.


ROUND FIVE: PLAY







Korea



America

Winner: Korea. (Apologies to Steven Bost—trivia night is great and I have a lot of fun, but the bartenders don't breathe fire.)

ROUND SIX: FOOD







Korea









Winner: It's all so tasty. Tie.

ROUND SEVEN: CREEPY CRAWLY PESTS



Korea



America

Winner: Korea. Mosquitoes are infinitely more manageable than stinkbugs.


ROUND EIGHT: NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH



Korea



America


WINNER: Korea. Canada's cool and all, but you guys aren't half as hilarious as Kim Jeong-il.

ROUND NINE: EAR CANDY



Korea



America

WINNER: America, though that was a close one.



ROUND TEN: EYE CANDY





Korea





America

Winner: Who doesn't win? Everyone does. Yum.

Apologies for shifting focus from my own REALLY VERY INTERESTING life into general culture commentary. But I ran out of pictures of stuff at home.

Song that is now perpetually in my head:

I'm in the home stretch of my contract. My last day teaching is February 26th (holy crow!) and I leave Korea on March 2. Also with my week off to China over the Lunar New Year coming up...it's hard to believe that soon I won't be struggling to get kids to sit still or to communicate in Engrishee and hand gestures.

The ironic-like-Alanis-Morisette part of it is, I like the classes I have now much better than the ones I had for the bulk of my contract, and I will genuinely be bummed about leaving them behind. Alas, so it goes.

But yeah: as of today, I have ten teaching days left. I can number my remaining work days on my hand. Whoa!

Last Entry of 2009

Happy New Year! I'm going to spend mine watching Sherlock Holmes and either jjimjilbanging or sleeping. No Chinese take-out for me.

Koreastmas

Merry belated Christmas to loved ones, near and far!

I worked Christmas Eve, but had Christmas off. To celebrate, I went out for dinner with the Minlak-dong foreigner community and then out for drinks. Unfortunately, something I ate or drank put me out of commission and I crawled into bed at about 2 am, feeling quite ill. It mostly passed by noon on Christmas day (though I still refrained from eating anything, just in case) and now I feel normal again.

Anyway, not to pity party about my Christmas. It was a good one, and I got some nice presents—mittens, nail polish, chocolates. I've finished presents for coworkers as well, and word on the street is that my Christmas packages made it home. "Everything's coming up Milhouse!"

Phrases I Want to Teach My Kids

...but don't think I'll be able to:

• "This the world's smallest violin playing 'My Heart Bleeds For You.'"
• "You can't always get what you want."
• "It's a hard knock life."
• "What's up?"
• "Cry me a river."
• "Deal with it."

Okay, "what's up?" they could probably handle. But otherwise, probably not going to happen.


And I just realized how sarcastic most of this list is. Hah. Things I miss about lecturing kids in English...

Places I will visit as soon as I get home:

• Mama Nina's
• The Q-mart
• The Chicken Lounge
• The Steelgaarden
• the cave
• Earl Bowl
• John's Plain & Fancy

"All you white people look the same!"

Some Korean women at the language exchange in Seoul told me that I looked like a woman from a KBS program called "Global Talk Show: Chatting With Beauties" or something like that. They might have mixed up the names—this is the woman with the name they mentioned:



(Annabelle Ambrose)

But looking at the women on the show, I think they meant this one:



(Melissa Alonzo)

Either that or they just noticed that I have the same haircut as the first one.